Wine and Whiskey
by FairDrea
Summary: *One Shot* Nick and Judy have coping mechanisms for handling the tough cases. When those coping mechanisms shift, keeping emotions secret is next to impossible. Complete fluff. Rated for language.


**A/N:** Newbie to Zootopia! The fandom, not the movie. It's my girl's new favorite movie so it gets watched A LOT. I disregarded it at first, not entirely interested in something I knew next-to-nothing about. Then I started watching halfway in, intrigued by a tiny mammal saying "Ice 'em." I kept catching it halfway through, at the end, here and there, and grew more and more intrigued, loving the premise of the movie. So one night, when the girls were in bed, I turned it on and watched it from start to finish. Fell SO in love with this movie. So happy I have children so I can get away with watching it repeatedly without my husband questioning anything. Especially when, after the second time watching it all the way through...and my ship came in. Sarcastic fox, idealistic bunny...two completely different species?! A couple MADE for shipping. Which I totally do. LOL. So enjoy my first attempt at these two! I hope you enjoy and I'm hoping there's more to come. :) Huge thanks to Quickening for the "on the fly" beta! You're great, hun!

Also, I own nothing of these characters and make no profit from writing any of this. Standard disclaimers...you know I love 'em!

 **Wine and Whiskey**

 _Sometimes, being a cop is just shit._

It was a thought that came unbidden, usually after a particularly rough shift, and Nick Wilde didn't feel at all ashamed thinking it. There was always an undercurrent of appreciation that took the bite out of the thought, which laughed in the face of guilt outright.

As an ex-con, he found himself appreciating the boys in blue more and more as he worked with them and started to understand just what kind of guts it took to wake up every day and willingly place their lives on the line for a community that wasn't altogether supportive of their efforts. Those who supported did so fiercely.

Those who didn't, did so with equal ferocity that coupled with violence and unpredictability. It made for some really sticky situations. And a lot of tongue biting which Nick, up until now, hadn't been especially good at. Suppressing the urge to snap back at the ignorance was a skill he was constantly working to improve.

His regard for his co-workers didn't stop at their willingness to face adversity. It went beyond that. Far beyond that.

He thought he'd seen some bad nights back in his hustling days. But there was a massive difference between hearing of bodies showing up due to deals gone raw and actually watching those bodies be pulled from shallow graves. Or watery graves. Or flaming graves.

Yeah, there was appreciation. Hell, there was more than appreciation. Those men knew what they were doing, and they did it well.

 _And women. Mustn't forget women._

He found himself grinning at the thought, immediately picturing his spunky, violet eyed partner Judy Hopps, as he pushed at his apartment door, exhaustion seeping into the very marrow of his bones. He made a halfhearted attempt to toss his keys on the small kitchen table before stumbling through the living room and flopping down on the couch with an exaggerated groan.

Immediately, the edge of his badge jabbed into his chest and he rolled onto his side, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off. It could lay on the floor. He didn't care. If anyone thought that was disrespectful, then they obviously hadn't just gotten off of a 19 hour shift on a case where the perp had walked with nothing more than a slap on the wrist when he deserved much more.

Generally, Nick didn't mind when low-end criminals walked. A little vandalism, some shady side deals...those were warning-worthy to him.

The guy they'd been dealing with, however, was not a low-end criminal. He was a complete prick living a privileged life and he left Nick with a horrible taste in his mouth. They'd brought the guy in on multiple charges - gross sexual imposition, solicitation of a minor, and possible rape. Results from the rape kit were still pending. Though from the look of the victim, Nick would wager three paychecks on it coming back positive.

The guy had money on his side, and lawyers that held rank and influence.

Watching him walk, that smug grin flashing in Nick's direction, had made his hackles rise, and had intensified that nasty, slick feeling in his throat.

He wished that would have been the worst part of closing the damn thing. But then, they'd had to talk to the family.

Nick turned on his back, glaring up at the ceiling as his mind played over the conversation. Judy had done most of the talking, which he was grateful for. She had a softness to her that he couldn't come close to replicating. It was a softness that was vital to situations like that.

He watched the girl the entire time, unable to take his eyes off of her. She was a young, timid puma- an unfortunate easy target. Women that young didn't deserve to have their faces wiped clean of vicarious brightness, of innocence and wonder. And yet, she had. Her eyes were haunted, dark bags beneath them proof of the horror she had been put through. She didn't speak, she didn't cry - she just stared straight ahead.

Nick knew that expression. He knew it well.

She was giving up.

He could only pray that a crisis call wouldn't come into the station regarding her.

Beside her, her mother sobbed quietly against her husband's arm. The husband yelled, demanded answers, demanded justice for his daughter. And they let him. It was all they could do, aside from offer their quiet, sincere condolences.

Everyone in that scenario had been cheated. Everyone but the one that deserved it.

 _Yup, sometimes being a cop is just shit._

He sighed, flinging an arm over his face and closing his eyes, trying to shut out the dull, lifeless expression of the young woman.

 _Think of something else. Anything else._

Slowly, the image shifted. The dead, haunted eyes turned a vibrant shade of violet. The mouth curved up at the corners. The small, rounded ears elongated and twitched adorably.

" _It's called a hustle, sweetheart-."_

"Not better," Nick muttered, grabbing a throw pillow and shoving it over his face.

Preferable...but not better.

Two months into their partnership and Nick had come to the sudden realization that Judy Hopps was more than just a woman he wanted to work side-by-side with. Much more.

Okay, maybe not sudden.

There had been subtleties here and there - a shared look, a teasing comment - things that went beyond simple friendship. They'd eaten away at him over the course of time until one morning, he had woken up, disappointed to be facing a day without her by his side and realized he was irrevocably in love with Judy Hopps.

Loving someone he worked with was one thing. However...the fact that they were two different species entirely complicated the hell out of it even further.

A muffled chime interrupted his thoughts. He pulled his phone free from the pocket of his slacks and pushed the pillow away to read the screen. Text message from Judy.

Though he felt some level of near-agony over the fact that he loved her, that didn't stop him from grinning when her wide-eyed, smiling face lit up his phone. But wasn't that just the "catch 22" for loving someone you shouldn't? No matter how much you knew you shouldn't, or thought it couldn't work, seeing them still made everything in your world just...right.

 _Hey Nick...what does the fox say?_

He rolled his eyes, his grin widening as he worked quickly to compose a suitable response.

 _You're too funny for words, Officer Hopps. And it's a well kept secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Tragic._

Setting his phone on the coffee table, he sat up and braced his elbows on his knees, rubbing his paws over his face. Maybe a drink was in order. He _did_ have the day off tomorrow. No second guessing needed in the face of that. He stood and went to the small kitchen separated from the equally small dining room by a counter top peninsula.

As he took a glass from the cupboard beside the sink, his phone went off again. He made quick work of tossing a few ice cubes in the glass and splashing some relatively high-quality whiskey over them before returning to the couch and picking up the phone. Again, Judy's face smiled up at him and his stomach twisted pleasantly.

 _You left the precinct pretty quick tonight. Everything okay?_

"Nope. Stupid in love with you, Carrots. Not sure that qualifies as anything near okay." He took a sip of his drink, savoring the liquid burn, before setting the glass aside to type a response.

 _Yeah. Long day, hard case...just wanted to get home and relax. Try to clear my head...you know the drill._

He had expected some response that would mirror his own. They both handled the hard stuff the same way - seclusion, booze and mindless television. It was one of the only times he knew of that Judy indulged in alcohol and he could hardly blame her. After their first truly difficult case involving a mass of drug overdoses and tracking down the ones distributing the laced narcotics, they'd both come to work the following day with their heads throbbing, to-go coffee in hand, both pitifully hopeful that the caffeine would take the edge off the hangovers.

Yet, even with their frontal lobes attempting to split open, neither regretted the effort put into their attempts to drown out the images of so many young kids, so many lifeless eyes...just staring at nothing. With the potency of the narcotics being public knowledge and talked about extensively throughout the community, questions started to arise on whether or not the overdoses were accidental or intentional. As the body count rose, those questions that were mere whispers turned into screams and it was impossible not to think that there was more to it.

Since then, their coping methods for the difficulties of the job were almost ritualistic. Glasses would be filled - his whiskey, her's strawberry rhubarb wine. There would be some witty back and forth texting, they'd ask each other what their poison for the evening was, what genre was going to do the trick this time and generally keep texting until one of them called it quits and said goodnight. Details of cases were never brought up. So when she came back at him with work, he wasn't prepared at all.

 _I can't get her face out of my head, Nick._

His thumb hovered over the keyboard. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Making a joke right now seemed not only hideously inappropriate, but dishonest too. She added more before he could say anything.

 _I keep waiting for my phone to go off...for Bogo to be on the other line telling me they found her body._

Nick swallowed hard, muttering a harsh "damnit," before responding.

 _Come over._

He waited, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor. This wasn't their ritual. This wasn't even close to their comfort zone. They'd spent time together outside of work. But never alone, never at one another's apartments. He hadn't even seen where Judy lived. He'd heard enough about it to decide that he might never want to, but that was besides the point.

"Come on, Carrots...answer," he muttered, staring at his phone and willing it to light up.

When it did, he prepared himself to be let down. It would probably be for the best. Neither of them were in a good place right now and his defenses were weakened enough to the point that he could really screw things up between them if he wasn't careful.

 _Give me twenty minutes._

He stared at the four words, stunned.

Twenty minutes...he needed to pull himself together in twenty minutes.

"Shiiiiit," he muttered. The word snapped him out of his flummoxed state and he tossed his phone aside, springing up from the couch, grabbing his discarded shirt from the floor and making a mad dash for the bedroom.

He switched from his dress blues to a pair of black sweatpants and his gray t-shirt from training at the academy, threw his blues in the washer and started a load, then quickly tidied up his modest living space. It didn't necessarily need it. Nick was tidy by nature. It was more of an excuse to spend some of the nervous energy building in his system. Of course, the second the quiet knock sounded at the door, it surged through him with renewed strength.

"Seriously Wilde, get it the hell together." He took a deep breath, steadied himself, fixed a lazy smirk on his face and pulled the door open.

The second he saw her, his smile fell away.

She was dressed in black leggings, a blue skirt and a short-sleeved faded pink shirt. Her ears drooped behind her and her eyes were red and glassy. She'd been crying.

"Ah, Carrots...come here," he said, opening his arms to her without thinking.

His concern for her, his need to see her happy, would always outweigh any feelings of discomfort over how he felt for her.

She walked into his arms, pressed her face to his chest and began to sob quietly, her paws curling around his forearms.

He bit back every sarcastic comment he would normally use to break the tension, sighing and tightening his hold on her instead, letting her ride out whatever demons were chasing her.

"We're supposed to stop the bad guys, protect those who need protecting," she said after a while, her voice muffled against his shirt. " _I'm_ supposed to stop them. That's why I wanted to do this. I wanted to make a difference, keep people safe. Bad guys aren't supposed to walk."

"No, they're not," he agreed. "But they do. You've just been lucky enough to go this long without seeing it happen." He pulled back, running a hand over the top of her head. "Come on, let's get you a drink."

She sniffled, gave a little nod, and allowed him to guide her further into the apartment, closing the door behind them.

"Go sit down."

Judy gave him a tiny smile, wiping a paw over her cheek to rid them of tears. "Do you even have anything I like?"

The half grin returned then, and he winked. "I might have something."

He joined her on the couch after refilling his glass and digging around until he found a wine glass and the bottle of strawberry rhubarb wine he'd been planning to give her for her birthday...Christmas...some occasion that involved gifts. Truthfully, he'd picked it up on a whim and was looking for excuses to give it to her when it wouldn't raise any suspicions. Tonight seemed like that time.

She accepted the wine with small "thank you" as he sat down beside her.

"So, what'll it be? Tooth rotting romantic comedy, excessive explosion and violence or cheesy horror?"

She tilted her head to the side, relaxing further into the couch, pulling her knees up and tucking her feet beneath her. "Hm, I'm going to go with cheesy horror. Something older...pre-splatter cinema."

Nick flipped through some of the options until he found just the one - Candyman.

"Aw, you didn't want to watch The Howling and solidify your distaste for howling timber wolves?" she teased.

"Not in the slightest. Drink your wine"

Her tiny snicker stirred warm feelings of lust and after a moment of discomfort, he adjusted to it, deciding it wasn't the worst feeling to be stuck with when sitting next bunny. It was actually...kind of nice.

Twenty minutes in and they both decided popcorn was a must and paused the movie.

"Do you need help with anything?" Judy asked, not making an effort at all to move from the couch.

He angled a grin at her and shook his head. "You just keep your cute little bunny self right there. I'll take care of it."

Maybe it was the lighting, or a trick of his lucid imagination, but he could have sworn she was blushing.

"Don't call me cute," she muttered, looking away and lifting her half empty wineglass to her lips.

"Yes, Officer Hopps."

He made quick work of the popcorn, opting for one bowl that they could share. He told himself there would be less dishes while a voice in the back of his head insistently pointed out that he just wanted her closer. He ignored it, however, and went back to the couch where his drink and those damn wide eyes awaited him. She was looking up at him, her ears back, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"He won't share his donuts, but a bowl of popcorn-."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you think any of this was for you?" He tossed a kernel in the air, catching it easily in his mouth. "Go make your own."

"Nick!"

"You know I'm just messing with you." He sat down beside her. "Donuts are a different thing altogether. Besides, you hate jelly filled and I'm a total sucker for them. I don't share my donuts with you out of respect for your personal preferences."

"Uh-huh."

He restarted the movie and sat back, forcing his focus to the screen and keeping it off of the warm body sitting only inches away from him. It was easy at first but as the movie progressed and the tension built, Judy moved closer. He convinced himself it was because she was scared. That was the thing about old movies before over-the-top methods were used. The scare factor was there, it just wasn't obvious.

It wasn't until he leaned forward to put the empty bowl on the table, removing the buffer between them, that he started to doubt that idea. She quickly eliminated the space between them, pushing up against his side, with a fearful squeak.

"What is _wrong_ with that guy!" she exclaimed in a horrified whisper.

Nick shifted a little, trying not to think about how warm her body was, how amazing she smelled, how low the neckline of her shirt was. "Pretty sure he's a psychopath. I hear that doesn't work out well for people."

 _Keep cool, Wilde. Never let them see they get to you. Isn't that your thing?_

Easier said than done when the one getting to you could do it without even thinking about it. Easier still when that one wasn't suddenly nuzzling your neck.

Nick jumped, quickly putting space between them, his head swimming with shock. "Carrots...what-?"

Judy had jumped back as well, nearly to the opposite side of the couch. Her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them, her cheeks flushed. "I...I don't know! I'm sorry! I didn't...I should...I should go," she started to scramble off the couch and he reached out, catching her by the elbow.

"No, Judy, don't-."

She stared at his paw, then up at him, clearly at war with her emotions. He knew the feeling. He'd been fighting a losing battle for months. And he could only think of two ways to make this right. They could talk it out, they could go over all of the details, good and bad, to starting something beyond a simple work partnership. Or-

He tightened his grip on her arm, pulling her close. He heard her gasp, saw the flash of desire and relief in her eyes.

 _Defining moments, Wilde...this is one of them._

Not allowing himself one more moment to doubt anything, he slid a paw around her neck, leaned down and kissed her.

She melted against him with a tiny sigh and the battle he'd been struggling with came to an abrupt stop. A heaviness still weighed on him though - not as heavily as it had, but he could still feel it there. Pulling back, he grinned at the bunny in his arms and did the only thing he could think of that would push it away. "I love you, Judy Hopps."

She smiled back, giving him that slow, half grin that made his pulse trip. "Hm, clever fox." She snuggled back into his side, her arms sliding around him. "I love you, too."

The weight was gone, and though there were still doubts, still fears, he felt more peace, more happiness, than he could ever remember feeling.

"It's okay to worry about how we're going to make this work, Nick," Judy said softly, rubbing her face against his chest. "But we _are_ going to make this work."

He swallowed the thick knot of emotion her words had lodged in his throat and nodded. "Well, I just wanted a quick roll between the sheets, but sure. We can try for more." Her elbow found his side and he chuckled, laying back and pulling her with him. She was so trusting, laying on top of him, sliding her leg comfortably between his and making herself right at home - like she was right where she belonged.

 _She is where she belongs._

He kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms low around her waist. "Wanna spend the night?"

"How about a couple nights?" she asked, yawning.

"I like the way you think, Carrots."


End file.
